IP-Based Phone Systems - Emerging Technology

Commonly thought of as Plain Old Telephones (POTS), there is a revolution in the telephone marketplace that is transforming this most basic appliance into an advanced business tool. Internet Protocol Telephony (IPT), based on the same technology that drives data networks world-wide is overtaking older telephone technology and changing the way that phone calls are made. From new computer-telephone integration on your desktop PC to consolidated administration, the benefits of IP Telephony make it a technology that deserves a closer look.

For end-users, the biggest advantage of IP Telephony is an enhanced level of integration between the telephone system and your Firm’s computer network. This can manifest itself in many ways. For example, instead of only seeing the phone number of the calling party on the telephone display, an IPT system can perform a lookup of the calling party’s phone number in the Firm’s contact database. This information can then “pop-up” on the user’s screen, presenting the caller’s name, company name, and any notes that have been entered into the database. Also, the ability to dial the phone can be integrated into the contact management database. So a user can search for the person they want to call, and then dial the phone directly from the search results screen. This can be further extended to integrate with a cost-recovery system so that the information is captured in a contact record, alleviating the need for the caller to manually enter the client/matter information when making calls.

Unified Messaging is another significant feature that IP Telephony systems offer to users. Because the phone system is directly connected to the data network, integrating Voice Mail and E-Mail systems is a straight-forward process. This allows users to be notified via e-mail if a voice message arrives, and for the user to manage their voice mailbox completely from the computer interface.

For traveling attorneys, SoftPhones allow for the ultimate in connectivity to the office while on the road. Running as an application on the attorney’s laptop computer, a SoftPhone allows the user to make and receive calls as if they were sitting at their desk. For firms that need to quickly setup temporary remote offices or war rooms, the ability to easily establish telephone service that is linked directly to the Firm’s main system is convenient for the users and offers a potential for notable cost savings.

From an operational perspective, IP Telephony offers several potential areas that can produce significant cost savings. In a multi-office environment, savings can be realized by moving inter-office phone calls to an IP-based data network from multiple voice circuits thus reducing the number of lines necessary to connect offices. Using toll-bypass in this manner, long distance calls can be routed over the IP-based network eliminating long distance charges. Even for single office environments, the ability to consolidate the voice and data networks, and the administrative roles associated with them will result in cost savings. Accordingly, moves, adds and changes can now be easily administered, thus providing another area of savings.

For firms that want to take advantage of all these features and savings, there are two different approaches to the IP Telephony world. For smaller firms, or those who do not want to commit to the large up-front costs of implementing a new telephone system, there are a few companies that offer hosted IPT systems. These are quick to set up (as little as 10 days) and very affordable. Outsourced IPT systems are often flat-rate plans, offering telephone and Internet service, as well as management of the network. For larger firms, implementing an internal IP Telephony system is the favored approach. There are several players in this market, with Cisco providing one of the most popular offerings.

Whether it is for a large or small firm, one office or many, IP Telephony offers many new features that make it an appealing technology to investigate further. When should you consider switching to IP Telephony? The simple answer is any time you are contemplating a change to either your voice or data network. Some of the events that may trigger this include:

• Relocation of your primary or any remote office
• Changing or redesigning your existing data infrastructure. Even if you do not immediately change to an IP Telephony system, you should consider it as a future option in any new design.
• When the cost or difficulty in maintaining your current PBX becomes an issue. Or if you need to expand your existing PBX to accommodate growth in the firm.
• If you are adding or changing your voicemail system
• Last, but not least, before it breaks and spare parts are not available

KKL is currently using this technology and would welcome the opportunity to discuss the benefits of implementing an IP Telephony  system at your firm.

Copyright © 2003 Kraft Kennedy & Lesser, Inc.
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